At a meeting on Nov. 12, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved an appropriation that will use funds from an opioid settlement to pay for a new program that promotes positive decisions by Westbrook High School (WHS) students.

At the meeting, Wesbrook Youth and Family Services Director Veronica Aleman made a presentation on a program named Hanging Onto Positive Experiences (HOPE). The program aims to teach students about drug prevention methods outside of school.

The BOS unanimously voted to reallocate $11,500 from the town’s opioid fund to the Social Services Department to facilitate the program.

Speaking with the Harbor News after the meeting, Aleman said the program is an extension of the WHS group Students Against Destructive Decisions.

“It’s to empower students to lead projects outside of the school environment and year-round that incentivizes positive decisions,” Aleman said.

Aleman said the goal is to begin meeting in January. Initially, the group will be open only to WHS students, though it may expand to include middle school students in the future. Flyers with a QR code have been sent to WHS so students can scan to show interest in joining the program.

“The goal is start meeting as soon as we have enough interest. We’re hoping that will be by the end of next month; then we can get going in January,” Aleman said.

Aleman said that she created the group because she saw a need in the community. As a Clinton resident, she was familiar with the REACT Club at the Morgan School, which tackles similar issues.

As a first order of business, Aleman said the students who join will be tasked with making a campaign educating the public on the dangers of opioid abuse.

“We are a diverse community so they’ll be asked to think outside the box to make sure we can reach as many people as possible. Since the money for the program came from an opioid settlement, I thought that would be a good place to start,” Aleman said.

Despite Westbrook being a small town, statistics from the Connecticut Department of Health show a steady flow of opioid prescriptions into the community at higher rates than towns with higher populations.

“It’s definitely important to empower students to know about opioids. People don’t think about them; they mainly think about drugs, but opioids like painkillers can be easily accessible. It’s important to tell people to return unused prescriptions, for example,” Aleman said.

The money used to start the program is part of a major settlement finalized in early 2022. Four companies — Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson – agreed to pay $26 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits brought against the companies that alleged their business practices have contributed to the opioid epidemic across the nation. The four companies admitted to no wrongdoing in the settlement. Currently, the town has about $50,000 in its opioid settlement account, and it is anticipated the town will receive more money in the future.